My Old Lady: A Deeply Depressing Trip To France

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A man, played by Kevin Kline, inherits an apartment only to find it being occupied by an old woman, played by Maggie Smith.

Whilst this film does have some old world European charm to it, for the most part it can’t shake a deeply depressing air that makes it not only hard to watch, but hard to review. I struggled with this film I will be upfront with you and say that, sometimes the heaviness of it got a little too much for me and it made it hard for me to carry on watching it. To think that this film is labelled a comedy drama is somewhat baffling as there is very little funny about it.

The performances were all very much as you would expect, that is not necessarily a criticism but instead a comment in that no one is really playing against type here. If you like Maggie Smith’s recent usual persona you will likely like her here as well, the same can be said for Kristen Scott Thomas.

Overall, I found this one quite hard to get through as I found it at times to be quite depressing and draining.

Pros.

Smith

It is watchable

Cons.

It is deeply depressing

There is no humour to be found

It is quite a slog to get through

The charm quickly fades

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Andor: Daughter Of Ferrix

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Cassian, played by Diego Luna, experiences a loss and Mon Mothma, played by Genevieve O’Reilly, edges closer to marrying off her daughter in exchange for help moving her rebellion earmarked funds around.

This was probably the weakest episode of the show so far, nothing really happened and at best it was boring. The focus on Mon Mothma is really what hurt this episode as a lot of the early season promise the character had has been widely lost by now, and the character mainly exists to show awkward party scenes and scheming that never really seems to amount to anything.

The Luthen, played by Stellan Skarsgard, and Saw, played by Forest Whittaker storyline is slightly better and more interesting as we see the walls start to close in around Luthen to an extent and see him re-characterised in the context of shifting power dynamics.

Overall, a fairly boring episode wherein nothing of any note happens.

Pros.

Luthen is finally facing resistance from the Empire

It is watchable

Cons.

Nothing much happens

Mon Mothma is being wasted

It is boring

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Thomas Kinkade’s Christmas Cottage: Have Yourself A Depressed Christmas

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A young man, played by Jared Padalecki, must do all he can to save his families cottage.

So in terms of Christmas films, both good and bad, this is deeply average. Whilst the film certainly is watchable, there is much worse, it is far too cliched to ever be good. The film feels like the most overly sentimental ever produced, to add to that the plot leaves nothing to the imagination and progress exactly as you would expect it to.

The ending, which is again obvious, especially if you have ever watched one of these sort of films before, feels both unbelievable but also incredibly Deus Ex Machina. If this wasn’t based on real life I would say it is far too convenient writing used to tie things up nicely.

Padalecki is fine as is the rest of the cast, but this film is by no means going to win any awards for its acting. Padalecki seemed to find it hard to change facial emotion for the entirety of the films runtime which is always a sign of either someone who doesn’t care and want to be there or someone who can’t act, I’ll let you decide which.

Overall, far too overly sentimental and cliched to pass average.

Pros.

It is watchable.

Chris Elliot

Cons.

It is cliched

It is overly sentimental

The ending is both blindingly obvious but also incredibly unrealistic

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The Menu: A Memorable Dining Experience

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

An exclusive dining experience goes badly wrong.

I thought this film was genuinely great on a number of levels. Most notably for me was the biting social commentary which had me both appalled at what Ralph Fiennes’ evil chef character was saying but also in some senses agreeing with him. I liked that this film had a very clear socio-economic/political message to it and wasn’t afraid to tackle it openly, moreover, rather than force its message down your throat to the point of choking you it approached it with a surprising amount of nuance which I really appreciated.

Additionally, this film is aided by being incredibly funny. This film had me laughing out loud quite often, its sense of humour is often jet black but it really worked for me. Whether it was the name cards for various different dishes or the way Nicholas Hoult’s Taylor was so mercilessly taken down the film was a laugh riot.

I think the film did its best to see to its supporting cast and give everyone a moment to shine, bar Arturo Castro who is terribly wasted, but really this film is about the interplay between Anya Taylor-Joy’s Margo and Fiennes Slowik and there is where the film really comes alive. Both actors are on top form, it goes without saying, but Taylor-Joy really shines and her scream queen credentials get yet another notch.

My only slight issue with the film was that the ending was rather predictable, not just that but also overly familiar. That is not to say that the ending didn’t work for the film, but rather than it was incredibly obvious where it was heading. I would have preferred something either more subversive or more shocking.

Overall, one of the best films of the year for sure.

Pros.

Fiennes

Taylor-Joy

Hoult

The humour

The social commentary

Cons.

The ending was a little weak

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American Horror Story NYC: Bad Fortune

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The killers gameplan is finally revealed and things take a turn for the supernatural.

I thought this was a very strong episode, I enjoyed the fortune telling scenes even if they were a bit silly and over the top. Moreover, I welcomed this season of the show more openly embracing the supernatural as for the most part this season has been relatively human focused.

I thought the Big Daddy fight scenes were well done, you never quite knew whether Patrick, played by Russell Tovey, was going to escape or whether he was going to die, they were tense scenes. Moreover, the death of Leslie Grossman’s character felt like it brought with it a new found sense of stakes for the season and her character really does drive the mystery forward.

Overall, another strong episode of this season with a very welcomed move towards the supernatural, I hope some of these mysteries will soon start to get tied up.

Pros.

Grossman

The ending

The veer towards the supernatural

The continued build of the mystery

Cons.

A little slow at times

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Tar: The Darkside Of Genius

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A venerated conductor, played by Cate Blanchett, has her life upturned when someone from her past commits suicide after accusing her on improper behaviour.

The trailers for this film made it look far more cerebral than it actually was, it looked far more liked a stylised concept whereas what this film actually turns out to be is fairly conventional in most regards.

I enjoyed that this film felt like a direct response to #metoo and cancel culture and asked questions that aren’t often thought about such as what happens after the accusations are made, how do these people continue on, how do they live with themselves for what they have done, what is the power of an accusation? Though the plot has been roughly done before, I thought that this film did bring some nuance to the conversation and reframe things.

As always Blanchett was terrific and completely chameleon esque, she sank fully into the role to such a point where you question whether this is a fiction film or a documentary and question the boundary between art and reality. Though I suppose that was the point.

My main issue with this film was that the runtime was far too long. Not only does this make the film feel far more inaccessible as it leads to pacing issues but it also feels incredibly self-indulgent, there could have been a fairly solid two hour film here, but they get far too cocky and decide to try and stretch it out, this leads to problems.

Overall, an interesting concept coupled with a great performance from Blanchett are met with an off putting runtime that leads to large pacing issues.

Pros.

Blanchett

The film’s take on #MeToo

The style

Cons.

The runtime

It feels a little too smug at times

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American Horror Story NYC: Blackout

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The mystery furthers.

I enjoyed that this episode continued to explore the killer and what he is trying to do, I think that if the show is to truly nail its landing this season then he will have to have one hell of an endgame to live up to all the hype the show has installed in him as the main villain.

However, but also good, the thing I am more interested in about this season that I think it is doing incredibly well is talking about the ever looming threat of AIDS, with the epidemic growing threateningly close over the horizon. I am curious to see how the show will address it, whether it will fully sink into conspiracy theory area or have it and the indifference many showed towards the victims be the real horror of the season, or maybe a bit of both.

Big Daddy continues to be a compelling supernatural villain who hopefully we won’t learn much more about so that some of the seasons mysteries can be left to the imagination.

Overall, another strong episode.

Pros.

The mystery

Teasing the past of the characters we think we know

The looming catastrophe on the horizon

Big Daddy continues to be a memorable villain

Cons.

It continues to be far too heavily eroticised

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Enola Holmes 2: Back By Algorithm Demand

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Enola Holmes, played by Millie Bobby Brown, is back for an all new tedious mystery that you will immediately forget about the second the film ends.

So I will say that this film is watchable, and does have a few good moments. I liked the furthering of the romance between Enola and Lord Tewkesbury, played by Louis Partridge, and thought that it was very sweet and I also liked that Enola is now out on her own and is not still at the beck and call of her brothers.

However, I would say that is where the positives for this film end. Mainly my problem with this sequel is that it is totally unneeded, the mystery is far more dull than the first, you don’t care about it and it all just feels like Netflix were screaming for more of the same. Indeed most of the aspects that worked well in the first film, such as the fourth wall breaking, are turned up to the max here and in almost every case they are pushed too far and to a point wherein they become annoying.

Moreover, though Henry Cavill was a strong part of the first film, here he feels pretty aimless. Maybe that is the point, but they force in Moriarty Holmes’ famous nemesis to try and give him something to do and even that ends up boring. In many sense I feel like this film was forced into production before they had a good idea as to what they wanted the sequel to be and so a lot of it comes off as generic.

Finally, a lot of the commentary and messaging of this film is not as insightful or as fresh as it thinks it is, and instead ends up bring out the same old same old feminist lectures that have been done better before. It comes off as try hard and wannbe, if they are going to give the film a message lets at least have it be timely and fresh.

Overall, a fairly needless sequel.

Pros.

Enola is finally her own boss

It is watchable

A few entertaining moments

Cons.

It doesn’t justify its existence

The commentary is tame and tepid

It can’t find an interesting story to tell

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The Rings Of Power A Rethink And A Changing Of Opinion

Written by Luke Barnes

I want to use this piece to talk about The Rings Of Power, now as some of you may know I reviewed the very first episode of this show and gave it a trashing, however, for one reason or another I decided to give the next few episodes a try and see if the show picked up and not only did it do that but I ended up really liking the show as a whole. In this piece I want to talk about my changed feelings about The Rings Of Power and also the ability to change opinions and have opinions evolve over time.

Many civilised people know that you can have an opinion on something one day and change it the next, however, there are some out there who call you a hypocrite for changing your opinion or for having a rethink of something in a renewed context. These people are silly and their criticism invalid.

Anyway, I had a strongly negative reaction to the first episode of the show, but I found almost all of my issues with the show were fixed entirely in the remainder of the season. The issues with cannon really weren’t as big as many made them out to be and in some case the issues were actually nonexistent, Galadriel, played by Morfydd Clarke, does think she is better than everyone but she is brought down a peg over the course of the season and humanised. Indeed Galadriel ends up being one of the best characters of the show and a lot of that is to do with Clarke’s performance.

Moreover, what the show does with its wider cast really brings the show together in a nice satisfying way, the finale pays off almost all of the mysteries of the season and gives each character their due. In this regard I particularly like the twist reveal of who Sauron is and how they end things with him.

I suppose the point of this piece is to say I was wrong, The Rings Of Power is a good show and you should check it out.

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Guess Who’s Coming To Christmas: A PureFlix Cast Off

1/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A hard rocking singer, played by Drew Lachey, decides that what he actually needs to have a good Christmas is small town values and the love of Christ.

Is this a faith film? Was this in the PureFlix Christmas selection? Honestly, I have nothing against faith films but this was awful and had a terrible message. The daughter, played by MacKenzie Porter, doesn’t seem to have a will of her own in this film- it is either what the father wants for her or what the leading man wants. The two seem to treat the female lead as though she is a bag of rice to be controlled and bartered over and it’s quite off-putting. However, it does get worse as the wider faith elements that permeate almost all areas of this film just turn it into religious propaganda.

Lachey’s lead isn’t particularly likeable either as he goes from a sleaze to a patriarchal oppressor and that is supposed to be a good change for his character if you can believe it.

Honestly this film just feels like a PureFlix cast off.

Overall, a bad film with a message that becomes more and more off-putting the more you sit and think about it.

Pros.

It is short

Cons.

It feels like a PureFlix cast off

The message is awful

The lead isn’t likeable

The ending sours the whole film

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